No respect for Comelec

“We don't need to share the same opinions as others, but we need to be respectful.”

—Taylor Swift

By Alex P. Vidal

IT’S not only Bongbong Marcos Jr. who has showed an apparent attitude of disrespect for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by ignoring the scheduled debates sponsored by the poll body in April.

Bongbong’s rivals appeared to have followed suit.

Like the former senator and son of the late strongman Ferdinand Sr., other presidential candidates also “boycotted” the Comelec panel interview on May 1.

Of course they offered different excuses to justify their absence, but we all know they probably wanted to send this curt message: when Bongbong wasn’t around in the past debates, nothing bad happened to his survey numbers, so why do we have to belabor ourselves?

For lack of a punitive measure, the Comelec couldn’t compel any candidate to attend the debates, panel interview, and whatever remaining public forum before May 9.

Everything was on voluntary basis in as far as activities hosted by the Comelec related to the presidential election was concerned. 

No coercion. No threat of disqualification. No penalty. Not even a reprimand.

Comelec is the most powerful government office during the election, but it has no teeth to compel candidates to join their election-related activities. 

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If Bongbong, who claimed he had prior schedules ahead of the debates and panel interview, didn’t display a haughty attitude towards the Comelec debates form the beginning, Vice President Leni Robredo, Mayor Isko Moreno, and Senator Ping Lacson wouldn’t have ignored the remaining programs arranged by the Comelec prior to Election Day.

In their thinking, if Bongbong could “get away with the snub” what and who will prevent us from doing the same?

Thus it became a case of “follow the leader” when they, too, dodged the panel interview, which was supposed to be the last leg of the scheduled Comelec debates before the cancelation of the other scheduled debate last month.

All the hullabaloo boiled down to one thing: they have no respect for the Comelec. 

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IT’S not only Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon who has chosen a different candidate for president other than the one being campaigned for by Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Trenas and Senator Franklin Drilon.

There are others in the slate, those running for city councilor—reelectionists and newcomers—who have picked other presidential candidates and would silently vote for their respective bets. 

For instance, a reelectionist city councilor who had expressed admiration for Pacquiao both as a boxer and as a politician, until today still considers the former world boxing champion as his “idol.”

“I can’t openly say it because we are committed to support (Vice President) Leni Robredo, but my vote goes to Pacquiao,” the reelectionist city councilor told a former colleague in the industry that made him famous before he entered politics.  

A neophyte candidate, a mestizo Chinese, who got lucky to be included in the slate of Trenas also confided to a former classmate, a balikbayan, that he will vote for Senator Ping Lacson.

“He (the neophyte candidate) admires Lacson even when the senator was still a PNP chief. The Chinese community likes Lacson because he helped rescue many victims of kidnapping-for-ransom in Manila and managed to return the ransom intact,” the balikbayan former classmate informed this writer.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Shame on them

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.”

—Peter Drucker

By Alex P. Vidal

SOME politicians have made it a habit to dangle the ill-fated Panay-Guimaras bridge project to the Ilonggos, especially those living in Guimaras Province, in order to get their attention and, what else but, votes during every election.

From FVR to Erap, Gloria, Digong they’re all the same dogs with a different collar, so to speak. They all broke their promise to the Ilonggos and shame on them.

If either Leni Robredo or Bongbong Marcos Jr. will win on May 9, anyone of them is advised not to play anymore with the emotions of the people from Panay and Guimaras if the project isn’t actually in their radar. 

Those who did think the people of Panay and Guimaras were like a babaeng kaladkarin, to borrow the words of the Tagalogs, who continued to stumble after being sweet-talked repeatedly by  womanizers. 

As the saying goes, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

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WE have good reason to believe that Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rey Bulay didn’t mean what he said when he reportedly threatened to use the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to arrest those who would accuse the poll body of playing partisanship during the May 9 Philippine election.

At least we are giving Bulay the benefit of the doubt. 

Was he misquoted? Or was it a case of a slip of the tongue?

As a lawyer, it’s unimaginable for Dulay not to know the basic tenets of the freedom of speech, expression and of the press. 

Even non-lawyers understand what this very sacred freedom is all about, and why it is enshrined in the constitution.

It’s understandable if many journalists were quick to react on Bulay’s threat. 

Criticizing government officials like Bulay because it’s their job may be tantamount to placing themselves in the firing line, if Bulay meant the threat he had supposedly made.

Because it’s election season and Comelec is the most powerful government office until after the winners in the May 9 election have been officially proclaimed, many so-called freedom fighters and human right advocates running for public office were adamant to criticize Bulay.

Interestingly only Senator Franklin Drilon, who isn’t running in the election, took turns in chiding the neophyte poll commissioner, saying: “I would advise the commissioner that we’re public servants. Let’s not threaten the people. These are just pleas for honest elections, a call on the Comelec to exercise their duties. There is nothing wrong with that.”

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It’s not advisable for any candidate—presidential and otherwise—to challenge his or her rival to a debate at this stage of the election campaign. 

Thus Vice President Leni Robredo’s challenge to her rival Bongbong Marcos Jr. for a one-on-one debate a week before the Election Day appeared to be meaningless and jumbled.

If she thought she really needed it to prop up her candidacy, she should have made the challenge week ago—when Marcos Jr was being ribbed by his critics for intentionally dodging televised debates with no valid reason.

The campaign is about to conclude and the election is several sleeps away now. 

Most candidates are also about to finalize their out-of-town sorties and miting de avance in different cities and provinces. 

Everyone involved in the gut-wrenching campaign activities that romped off months ago is now tired and weary; most of them are now focusing their energy on Election Day.

To challenge anyone to a debate when the tents and curtains are being folded up is like a marathoner challenging a rival to run for additional 2 kilometers after crossing the finishing line of the 42.195-kilometer full marathon.

It will be misconstrued as a sign of panic and desperation. Or both.

Or it may be an irrational fear that someone hasn’t done the tasks that were supposed to be finished yesterday.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

   

 

I campaigned for Bongbong’s parents

“An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.”

—George Eliot

By Alex P. Vidal

I HAD the privilege to “campaign” for the parents of 2022 presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during the 1986 and 1992 presidential elections, respectively.

First, my family in San Jose, Antique campaigned hard for Bongbong’s father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., during the 1986 presidential snap election.

Many of my aunts were friends of the Pacificadors; in fact, they were neighbors. 

At that time, former Assemblyman Arturo “Turing” Pacificador, Marcos’ chief ally, was lording over the politics in Antique; Pacificador’s grip with the Antiquenos then can be compared with the Dutertes’ political supremacy in Davao City today.

Whether Pacificador was a hero or villain for teaming up with President Marcos, it depended on which political spectrum one belonged. 

Several weeks before the snap election on February 7, 1986, I was in Antique, where I witnessed how the Marcos administration mobilized its resources and full might to ensure the late dictator’s “victory.”  

To make the long story short, I helped campaign for the late strongman to please my aunts, who had high regards for the late patriarch Pacificador and his family.

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When the late former Antique Governor Evelio Javier made one of his last hard-hitting speeches before the snap election, I was there playing chess in the back of the public plaza (located in front of the capitol), where the now national hero delivered the powerful speech.

Javier, who was the chief campaigner of Marcos’ rival, the late former President Corazon Aquino, yelled while denouncing both Marcos and Pacificador. 

I thought I heard the voice of a very angry man with an ax to grind in that afternoon.

It was on the same place where he was murdered on February 11, 1986 during the canvassing of ballots. 

In the 1992 presidential election, I was “obligated” to campaign for Bongbong’s mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, who ran against the late former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the late former House Speaker Ramon Mitra, the late former Ambassador Danding Cojuangco, the late former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman and senator Jovito Salonga, and former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vice chief of staff, General Fidel Ramos.

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Mrs. Marcos, accompanied by then KBL senatorial candidates Salvador Panelo (who is now running for senator anew), the late comedian Chiquito, General Vicente Piccio of Belison, Antique, and other KBL stalwarts, met us at Hotel del Rio in Iloilo City through her former chief of staff Sol Vanzi.

It was Vanzi who had earlier facilitated our “exclusive” meeting with Mrs Marcos and her late mercurial lawyer Antonio Coronel at Manila’s Intercontinental Hotel.

This was in the first week of November 1991, or several days after the Marcos family, ousted in the “People Power” EDSA Revolution in February 1986, was allowed by the Cory Government to come back from exile in Hawaii after five years.

In a “special arrangement”, we joined Mrs. Marcos’ caravan from Iloilo to Antique, Capiz, and Aklan.

On May 11, 1992, however, I cast my vote for the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who lost to General Ramos or FVR after a controversial power outage during the canvassing.

Dear was Mrs. Marcos, who wound up fifth but garnered more votes against sixth placer Salonga, but dearer was my fellow Ilonggo and one of the best presidents the Philippines never had, Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Now that Bongbong or BBM is the one running for president, I did not campaign for him. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. In fact, I won’t vote for him.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

Our Trojan horse and faith in the Filipinos

"We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves." 

—Blaise Pascal 

By Alex P. Vidal

ARE the Filipinos worth dying for?

Part of the answers will be known on May 9, the Election Day 2022.

Our heroes had risked their lives for our freedom and independence from slavery and dictatorship; they sacrificed everything to secure our future and ensure our survival as a nation.

If we don’t give a damn and decide to put all their noble sacrifices to waste, all we can do is elect bad leaders during the election and, thus, surrender the reigns of our government to the thieves, the thugs, and the pagans. 

After all, we deserve the kind of leaders we elect. We choose our future and “we know what is best for us.”

We still have faith in the Filipinos who will vote for the new officials from the national to the local levels on May 9.

Not all the candidates are good and deserving. Some are wolves in the sheep’s clothing—charlatans who mesmerize the gullible for their nefarious intentions; scoundrels and con artists who want to make a living out of the taxpayers money.  

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They want to join the civil service via the electoral process not to serve as a primordial intention, but to take advantage of the government resources that will be at their full disposal once they are in power.

Some of them are also agents and dummies of foreign interests, or the so-called Manchurian candidates.

We are worth dying for if we know how to protect our country from fake and undeserving leaders. We are worth dying for if we know how to secure our patrimony and defend our sovereignty.

We are worth dying for if we exercise in full might and fervor our rights to suffrage by choosing only the leaders who can best represent our values and character and fight for our dignity and well-being.

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We also need to spot the Trojan horse and those who are really genuine public servants.

Let me share a story that happened a long ago or more than 3,000 years.

A band of Greek princes and heroes made a war on the city of Troy, in Asia Minor.

They laid siege to the city, but the Trojans were not easily beaten and the war went on for 10 years. 

It might not have ended even then had not Odysseus, the cleverest of the Greeks, devised a scheme to overthrow the city.

The Greeks pretended that they were giving up the siege and began making preparations to leave. One of the things that they did was to build a gigantic wooden horse. 

They left this on the shore, and then went on board their ships and sailed away.

When the Trojans saw the Greek warriors depart, there was great rejoicing. 

Believing the horse to be a luck offering to the gods, they opened their gates and hauled the horse inside as a prize of victory.

During the night, however, when the feasting was over and the Trojans were asleep, a door was opened in the side of the hollow wooden animal and out crept a band of Greeks who had been concealed inside. These men opened the gates of the city and let in the main army of the Greeks, who had sailed back again as soon as darkness had fallen.

Thus Troy was captured and destroyed.

Long ago the blind poet of ancient Greece, Homer, told about the Trojan horse in his Odyssey. 

Even today the name is applied to a person or persons who get inside enemy territory and help outside forces to get in and conquer it.

We must vote wisely to avoid being invaded by a Trojan horse.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

No more excitement

“We're all going to change. Otherwise, it's boring.”

—Alicia Keys

By Alex P. Vidal

ALTHOUGH they won’t complain, most of the presidential and vice presidential candidates are now probably suffering from physical, emotional, and mental burnout after a series of lung-busting campaign sorties nationwide for several months now. 

Thus, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) made a wise decision to scrap the remaining town hall debates and will instead air pre-taped interviews of poll candidates.

Although the debates were initially set on April 23 and 24, some of the candidates appeared to be not anymore enthusiastic as they’re now brimming with excitement and suspense for the Election Day on May 9.

Even the public must’ve been bored already by the prolonged debates, which had been repeatedly snubbed by survey frontrunner Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Everyone now seems to be hellbent to expedite the clock if only to satisfy their suspended animation.

Some people are mainly excited to cast their votes with less than two weeks to go, and another debate among the contenders doesn’t excite them anymore; they have heard the same wrangling and showboating in the previous debates.

They have seen and heard some panelists grandstand; they have heard the same questions and monotonous answers; and whatever will transpire in the debates might not matter anymore as most voters have already decided.

The PiliPinas Debates 2022 Series’ concluding event was supposedly scheduled on April 30 and May 1 after it was postponed over payment issues involving private firm Impact Hub Manila, which organized the previous debates. 

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Like in the Philippines, the top protagonists in the recent presidential election in France were a man and a woman.

In France, it was a man who beat a woman in a tension-filled runoff.

In the Philippines two weeks from now, will Marcos duplicate the victory? Or will Vice President Leni Robredo reverse the situation?

Days ago, it looked like reelectionist President Emmanuel Macron would be toppled by firebrand populist Marine Le Pen before the runoff, holding the woman challenger at bay by slim margin. 

On April 24, 44-year-old Macron, a centrist, comfortably secured a second five-year term, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won’t abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia’s military expansionism.

Macron spared France and Europe from the seismic upheaval of having Le Pen at the helm, who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing.

Acknowledging that “numerous” voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the fiercely nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is “filled with so many doubts, so many divisions” and work to assuage the anger of French voters that fed Le Pen’s campaign.

“No one will be left by the side of the road,” Macron said in a victory speech against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and a projection of the blue-white-and-red tricolor French flag as quoted by Reuters.

He was cheered by several hundred supporters who happily waved French and EU flags.

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WE ARE STILL SUPERIOR. Human brains are smarter than creatures whose brains are larger than ours in absolute terms, such as the killer whales, as well as those animals whose brains are larger than ours in relative terms, such as shrews. 

Thus, the size alone does not explain the uniqueness of the human mind.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Voting wisely is one of them

“Every man is guilty of the good he did not do.” 

—Voltaire

By Alex P. Vidal

Candide, one of Voltaire’s astonishing satires first published in 1759 that propelled the French novelist to heights during the Age of Enlightenment, is our friend the late Ilonggo philosopher and lawyer Ernie Dayot’s most favorite.

Dayot, a deist or believer of the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe, wanted to emphasize that religion does not necessarily make someone a moral or an ethical person.

It’s from Dayot’s story about Candide that I learned the deeply practical precept, “let’s cultivate our own garden” which I have been enormously using in some of my articles to refer to self reliance and initiative.

It’s actually a Leibnizian mantra popularized by Pangloss, Candide’s professor, which is “all is for the best”.

Leibniz was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German polymath and philosopher who occupies a prominent place in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy.

An illegitimate nephew of a German baron, Candide grew up in the baron’s castle under the tutelage of Professor Pangloss.

BEST

It was from Pangloss that he learned about “the best of all possible worlds.”

The baron had a young daughter, Cunegonde, and Candide fell in love with her.

Candide was expelled from the castle when the baron caught them kissing.

Having been conscripted into the army of the Bulgars, Candide wandered away from the camp for a brief walk, and was brutally flogged as a deserter.

He escaped to Holland after witnessing a horrific battle where he was taken care of by Jacques. He soon met a deformed beggar who turned out to be Pangloss.

Sick with syphilis, Pangloss told Candide that Cunegonde and her family had been brutally massacred by the Bulgars.

He brought Pangloss to Jacques and they travelled to Lisbon. On their way, the ship was whipped by a storme and Jacques was drowned.

Candide and Pangloss survived, but when they arrived, Lisbon was in ruins after being hit by an earthquake. It was also under the control of Inquisition.

HERETIC

Pangloss was hanged as a heretic, and Candide was flogged for listening with approval to Pangloss’s philosophy. After his beating, an old woman dressed Candide’s wounds and then, to his astonishment, took him to Cunegonde.

Though the Bulgar army killed the rest of her family, Cunegonde narrated that she was merely raped and then captured by a captain, who sold her to a Jew named Don Isaachar.

She became a sex slave jointly owned by Don Isaachar and the Grand Inquisitor of Lisbon. Each of Cunegonde’s two owners arrived in turn as she and Candide were talking, and Candide killed them both.

Candide, the old woman, and Cunegonde fled and boarded a ship bound for South America. During their journey, the old woman shared her own story that she was born the Pope’s daughter but has suffered a litany of misfortunes that included rape, enslavement, and cannibalism.

Candide and Cunegonde planned to marry, but as soon as they arrived in Buenos Aires, the governor, Don Fernando, proposed to Cunegonde.

She accepted Don Fernando, as she was thinking of her own financial welfare.

PORTUGAL

Authorities looking for the murderer of the Grand Inquisitor arrived from Portugal in pursuit of Candide. Along with a newly acquired valet named Cacambo, Candide fled to territory controlled by Jesuits who are revolting against the Spanish government.

After demanding an audience with a Jesuit commander, Candide discovers that the commander was Cunegonde’s brother, the baron, who also managed to escape from the Bulgars. Candide announced that he wanted to marry Cunegonde, but the baron insisted that his sister would never marry a commoner. Enraged, Candide killed the baron with his sword and escaped into the wilderness together with Cacambo, where they narrowly avoided being eaten by a native tribe called the Biglugs.

Candide and Cacambo found themselves in the land of Eldorado, where gold and jewels litter the streets, after traveling for days. This utopian country has advanced scientific knowledge, no religious conflict, no court system, and placed no value on its plentiful gold and jewels. But Candide longed to return to Cunegonde, and after a month in Eldorado he and Cacambo departed with countless invaluable jewels loaded onto swift pack sheep.

SURINAME

When they reached the territory of Suriname, Candide sent Cacambo to Buenos Aires with instructions to use part of the fortune to purchase Cunegonde from Don Fernando and then to meet him in Venice. An unscrupulous merchant named Vanderdendur stole much of Candide’s fortune, dampening his optimism somewhat. Candide sailed off to France with a specially chosen companion, an unrepentantly pessimistic scholar named Martin. On the way there, he recovered part of his fortune when a Spanish captain sank Vanderdendur’s ship. Candide took this as proof that there is justice in the world, but Martin staunchly disagreed.

Candide and Martin mingled with the social elite in Paris. Candide’s fortune attracted a number of hangers-on, several of whom succeeded in filching jewels from him. Candide and Martin proceeded to Venice, where, to Candide’s dismay, Cunegonde and Cacambo were nowhere to be found.

However, they did encounter other colorful individuals there, including Paquette, the chambermaid-turned-prostitute who gave Pangloss syphilis, and Count Pococurante, a wealthy Venetian who was hopelessly bored with the cultural treasures that surrounded him. Eventually, Cacambo, now a slave of a deposed Turkish monarch, surfaced, explaining that Cunegondewas in Constantinople, having herself been enslaved along with the old woman. Martin, Cacambo, and Candide departed for Turkey, where Candide bought Cacambo’s freedom.

SURVIVE

Candide discovered Pangloss and the baron in a Turkish chain gang. Both have actually survived their apparent deaths and, after suffering various misfortunes, arrived in Turkey. Despite everything, Pangloss remained an optimist. An overjoyed Candide bought their freedom, and he and his growing retinue went on to find Cunegonde and the old woman.

Cunegonde has grown ugly since Candide last saw her, but he bought her freedom anyway. He also purchased the old woman’s freedom and purchased a farm outside of Constantinople. He kept his longstanding promise to marry Cunegonde, but only after being forced to send the baron, who still cannot abide his sister marrying a commoner, back to the chain gang. Candide, Cunegonde, Cacambo, Pangloss, and the old woman settled into a comfortable life on the farm but soon find themselves growing bored and quarrelsome.

Candide finally encountered a farmer who lived a simple life, worked hard, and avoided vice and leisure who inspired them.

Candide and his friends took to cultivating a garden in earnest. All their time and energy went into the work, and none was left over for philosophical speculation. At last everyone was fulfilled and happy.

Rift will be far from over

“We gotta stop fighting amongst each other. I think the only rift should be when take it the stage and try to out perform each other.”

—Grandmaster Flash

By Alex P. Vidal

THE heated arguments between supporters of the top two Philippine presidential candidates, former Senator Bongbong Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo, have continued to dominate the social media and other public and private gatherings. 

Especially now that both Robredo and Marcos Jr. gained hugely in their simultaneous show of force grand rallies on April 23 respectively in Pasay City and Sampaloc, Manila.

With less than two weeks before the Election Day, the animosity won’t end immediately after the winners (including the race for vice president and the senate) have been declared (assuming the election won’t be called a “failure”) since protagonists from both camps might still cry “we wuz robbed” as what usually happened in the past post-election scrimmages.

It’s actually the morning after the winners have been known that is the most difficult to tackle for die-hard fans from both sides. 

Filipinos have always been accustomed to going for a win, regardless of what kind of race they are in. 

Even in basketball, Pinoy fans continued to grapple—sometimes literally—even after the Crispa Redmanizers had won the PBA championship over perennial rival, Toyota Tamaraws, vice versa.

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If the elections were fought fair and square, there’s no assurance the results would be gamely accepted, at least that’s how some supporters reacted based in the previous elections.

If a suspected fraud attended the electoral process, expect more displays of bellicose attitude from unsatisfied and irascible supporters.

It took years—not days, weeks or months—before supporters of defeated presidential candidate, the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, simmered down after her controversial loss to Fidel V. Ramos in the 1992 presidential contest.

Fans of the late Fernando Poe Jr. or FPJ were restive and truculent for decades after his controversial defeat to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential race.

Filipinos have a long history of belligerence when they couldn’t get what they wanted, or when their chosen bets in sports, politics, and even beauty contest failed to bring home the bacon.

So it’s far from over as far as the hostilities between supporters of the lady Leni and the gentleman Bongbong is concerned.

For the meantime, let’s remind the supporters from both camps to calm down and avoid engaging in any drawn out election-related rift before, during, and after May 9. 

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I had a very unique mission last Friday (April 22) afternoon in the Lower Manhattan: an appointment with the medical center for two vaccines not related to pandemic.

These vaccines were tetanus vaccine and MMR vaccine, both were taken on the same afternoon on the same arm.

Tetanus vaccine, also known as tetanus toxoid, is a toxoid vaccine used to prevent tetanus. 

Was I “late” for this vaccine? I was supposed to take this during childhood, where five doses would be recommended, with a sixth given during adolescence. 

Had I taken the tetanus vaccine after three doses as a child, I would have been almost initially immune, but additional doses every 10 years would still be recommended to maintain immunity, according to health authorities.

The MMR vaccine, on the other hand, is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) or what registered nurse Paris had told me was a “three-in-one” vaccine.

The first dose is generally given to children around nine months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to six years of age, with at least four weeks between the doses.

Again, was I “late” to take this “three-in-one” vaccine?

As the saying said, better late than never.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Watch your words and demeanor

“Don't flatter yourselves that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. On the contrary, the nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

By Alex P. Vidal

In less than two weeks, candidates in the May 9 Philippine election can’t afford to make a major blunder as horrific as the one recently committed by presidential candidate Franciso “Isko Moreno” Domagoso.

This applies also to local candidates, who may now be also losing their patience as the situations turn tension-filled and are now incalculable in many aspects.  

Both the national and local candidates must now watch out for their demeanor and carefully choose their words especially then lambasting their rivals without any apparent provocation, or they will lose major party leaders and key supporters in a hemorrhage or heavy defections.

Even if they are being provoked, the best option is still to maintain a calm mind and continue to soldier on like a professional team player.

Bawal ang pikon, or as what some neighborhood buddies tell each other, “relaks lang ‘tsong!”

Although easier said than done, they must learn to control their emotions as the homestretch is still the most critical stage in any race.

Emotions are running high undoubtedly, especially for those who are lagging behind in the surveys; but whatever pint up outburst and angry snipes may only exacerbate any candidate’s downfall and won’t contribute in any damage control.

    

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It’s good that in our culture in the Philippines, we don’t mistreat our elderly and parents in the name of “discipline” or anything that is associated to a lockdown related to pandemic like what the Chinese government is doing to its people.

Authorities in Shanghai have been tightening the enforcement of lockdown measures, as a Covid-19 surge continued in China's financial capital and some of the scenes weren’t good in our eyes. 

We saw on CNN, BBC, and other mainstream media how the seniors were being dragged forcibly and physically assaulted when they put up a resistance in the lockdown measures. 

New measures included placing electronic door alarms to prevent those infected from leaving, as well as evacuating people to disinfect their homes.

Hundreds have been forcibly evacuated from their homes, including the seniors, to allow for buildings to be disinfected.

The restrictions took Shanghai's lockdown into its fifth week now as infected patients and close contacts were transferred to government-run centralized quarantine.

Disinfection measures were further escalated in some of the city's worst-hit areas. This would likely mean some residents were forced to move out temporarily including those who have tested negative. 

Let’s hope and pray the grim scenarios in Shanghai won’t happen in the streets of Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros, and Davao.

 

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I had the privilege to visit the Roosevelt House, the former double townhouse of former U.S President Franklin, Eleanor and Sara Delano Roosevelt on Upper East 65th in Manhattan April 21.

Now owned by Hunter College, the house now offers visitors a chance to get closer to a family as unique as the city they inhabited, and to explore the private spaces where some of the most iconic public policy of the 20th century was shaped.

Roosevelt House is an integral part of Hunter College since 1943, re-opened in 2010 as a public policy institute honoring the distinguished legacy of the Roosevelt couple. 

Its mission is three-fold: to educate students in public policy and human rights, to support faculty research, and to foster creative dialogue. 

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The institute actually provides opportunities for students to analyze public policy and experience meaningful civic engagement; for faculty to research, teach, and write about important issues of the day; and for scholarly and public audiences to participate in high-profile lectures, seminars and conferences.

We could learn about President Franklin Roosevelt’s rise to the White House after his struggle with polio, Eleanor’s activism for civil rights and human rights, and Sara’s philanthropy.  

It’s in the rooms inside where Eleanor gained the leadership skills to become America’s ambassador to the world and where Franklin created the New Deal to bring America out of the Great Depression.  We could also hear the voices of the Roosevelts and their friends and view Roosevelt memorabilia, photographs, and period documents.

The Roosevelt House still maintains the Neo-Georgian landmark designed by architect Charles A. Platt and learn how Hunter College carries on the Roosevelts’ legacies in the 21st century through research, teaching and public programs.

(The author, is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Heartaches in two weeks

 

“Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.”

—Eric Hoffer

By Alex P. Vidal

WE can’t blame other candidates in the May 9 Philippine election for acting like children in the classroom of adults. 

In only two weeks, some of them would be hounded by terrible heartaches; they would submerge in the boulevard of broken dreams.

Their combative and irrational behaviors are signs of panic and fear of losing, an enigma that has been with the human psyche since we learned to compete in life’s chariot race.  

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave can best explain the point I’m trying to raise in connection with the forthcoming election.

Sometimes these behaviors surface during unguarded moments, when they mistakenly thought they were acting normally and saying words rationally. 

This can be attributed to stress, anxiety, and burn out after several months of hooping from one region to another all over the archipelago and spending oodles upon oodles of money; the tired and weary mind and body can produce eerie reactions that are verbalized. 

Several months back, we wrote that no candidate in the election believed in defeat. 

Once the candidates began hitting the campaign trail, they thought nothing could stop them from winning. If they lost, they were cheated. No one would admit they were simply bested by their rivals fair and square.  

The realization or the coming to terms with objective thinking has always been late. 

When the mind and body are well-rested, certain chemicals circulate and replenish our internal ecosystem and guide us to accept the reality.

-o0o-

Most Filipinos don’t care at all if Twitter will be owned by a man many critics have long suspected to be the “devil” (I personally reject this absurd “suspicion” and I don’t tolerate it if some bashers of Elon Musk make such south-of-the-border accusations).  

After Mr. Musk made an offer to takeover Twitter, tensions started to run high across Twitter as news of the billionaire’s takeover bid of the company spread across the service recently, with users contemplating what the service could look like under his watch.

Things were reportedly little different inside Twitter. The New York Times reported that “many employees felt rocked by the news over the last 10 days that Mr. Musk wished to purchase the company and reshape it in his image.”

To quell employee concerns, Twitter management recently called an emergency all-hands meeting led by Parag Agrawal, the company’s chief executive, according to five employees who attended and were not authorized to talk publicly, according to the New York Times.

Among the most pressing issues: Was this takeover bid for real? And if so, will Mr. Musk overhaul the service that many of Twitter’s employees have spent years thinking about, tweaking and refining with a painstaking level of care?

We, Filipinos, don’t mind it as long as Twitter has been giving us quality service and quick access to what is happening around the world as part of our daily life as social media addicts. 

-o0o-

IT’S OUR FAULT, ACTUALLY. We were created with flat teeth because we are not supposed to be carnivore; therefore, we can't eat meat but only vegetables. 

But when Prometheus discovered fire and handed the knowledge to mankind, we learned how to cook and thus we started to eat meat--and started to suffer heart attack due to high cholesterol.

Let us eat more vegetables and fruits and less meat. Let us minimize if not totally stop the wanton slaughter of animals.

STAND UP STRAIGHT. This sounds so ridiculously simple, but it's one of the most evidential traits of those women we so admire. Stand against a wall with head, shoulder blades, and heels touching, and buttocks pushed into the wall.

THE SUN IS OUR SKIN'S NO. 1 ENEMY. We should always make sun protection a priority. Let's use a sunscreen formulated for our skin along with our moisturizer. Much of the evidence of aging, rough skin, wrinkles, age spots, etc. are really the result of too much sun.

CONTROL THE EMOTION. A man's bad temper is the number one cause of his downfall.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

NY-based Pinoy engineer conquers Foxwoods under-1600 chessfest

“Chess demolishes differences. It's a language of different generations.”

—Judit Polgar

By Alex P. Vidal

A NEW York-based Filipino engineer became the latest head-turner in the United States chess community by clinching the Under-1600 category of the 14th annual Foxwoods Open International Chess Championship on April 17, 2022 at Foxwoods Resort Casino & Hotel in Connecticut.

Donato “Gerry” Gamaro, member of the Filipino American Association of Engineers (FAAE) where he served as vice president in 2019, improved his fourth place finish in the 2021 Chicago Open in the same category by amassing 6.5 points in the seven-round Swiss System, according to his coach, Filipino National Master Mario Rebano, who accompanied the newly installed chess champion from Calauan, Laguna.

Filipino International Master Marlon Bernardino, who reported Gamaro’s conquest, said Gamaro, who finished sixth in the same division in the 2021 World Open, also won the Blitz side event for $100.

“Fondly called Gerry in the chess world, an engineer and a golfer from Queens, New York, reigned supreme in the Under 1600 division with a 6.5 points after beating Karim Naba in the final round of the 7-round Swiss System Tournament. With his feat in the regular game 60 minutes plus 10 seconds delay time control format received US$2,325 for his efforts,” Bernardino reported.

Gamaro, also a 2020 champion in the Pilipino Golf Association of New York (PGANY), admitted that “chess is one of my passions aside from golf.”

“Chess gets influence on the human psyche and reasoning,” Gamaro said. “Being the champion is just a thing; however, the key is not the will to win but the will to prepare to win.”

Gamaro's next international chess tournament is the tough 50th annual World Open Chess Championship Under 2000 category set this July in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reported Bernardino.

-o0o-

Yordenis Ugas’ TKO loss to Errol Spence Jr. during their welterweight title unification on April 16 did’t surprise us. 

Now, the 35-year-old conqueror of Philippine presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao would be sidelined for quite some time after suffering a fractured right orbital in the 10th-round stoppage defeat.

Spence Jr. was too fast and too strong for the Cuban fighter; he could have beaten impressively Pacquiao had their fight pushed through.

Pacquiao, who had slowed down in his last four fights before hanging up his gloves to focus on politics, would have also suffered a disposal loss.

"I have a fracture in my eye and in the next few days the doctors will say how they will treat it," Ugas said on Instagram. "I spent all morning in a hospital and I write these words with only one eye, the other one is still closed."

Ugas (27-5, 22 KOs) was diagnosed with the eye injury early Sunday morning at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. 

The Cuban was reportedly buckled by a left uppercut in Round 7 that did the damage; his eye immediately swelled.

Despite the debilitating injury, Ugas fought on for three more rounds before the ringside doctor advised the referee to stop the bout in Round 10; he concluded the boxer couldn't see out of his right eye, which was completely swollen shut, observed Coppinger.

-o0o-

When Billy Joe Saunders was defeated by Canelo Alvarez in a super middleweight title unification last May, Coppinger said he immediately had metal plates inserted because the orbital was fractured in three places.

Ugas could escape a similar fate but will surely be sidelined for an extended period. He hurt Spence in Round 6 before Spence inflicted the damage the following round. Ugas, ESPN's No. 3 welterweight, entered the bout with the WBA title at 147 pounds, a belt he retained after he sent the legendary Manny Pacquiao into retirement with a loss in August.

Spence, 32, was set to fight Pacquiao last summer but withdrew after he suffered a detached left retina that required surgery. Ugas was the beneficiary, and now he'll look to bounce back from his own serious eye injury.

"The referee stopped the fight, but I wanted to keep going to the end," Ugas said Saturday through an interpreter. "I definitely had a chance to win the fight in the sixth round, but he recuperated well."

Spence previously fractured Kell Brook's orbital bone when he first became a champion in 2017.

Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) added the WBA title to the WBC and IBF belts he already owned. Terence Crawford's WBO title is the only one he doesn't possess, and they could meet later this year to crown an undisputed welterweight champion in one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing.

"Everybody knows who I want next, I want Terence Crawford next," said Spence, ESPN's No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer. "That's the fight that I want, that's the fight everybody else wants. Terence, I'm coming for that motherf---ing belt."

Ugas didn't need emergency surgery, according to his team, and would be reexamined at a later date after the swelling has subsided to see if a medical procedure was required.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Fil-Am engineer makes noise in U.S. chess

GAMARO (left) plans his moves while his coach, NM Mario Rebano ,watches.

By Marlon Bernardino

MANILA---A FILIPINO-AMERICAN stamped class in the 14th annual Foxwoods Open International Chess Championship concluded on April 17, 2022 at Foxwoods Resort Casino & Hotel in Connecticut, USA.

Donato Gamaro is making waves in the United States with his biggest feat so far.

Fondly called Gerry in the chess world, an engineer and a golfer from Queens, New York, reigned supreme in the Under 1600 division with a 6.5 points after beating Karim Naba in the final round of the 7-round Swiss System Tournament. With his feat in the regular game 60 minutes plus 10 seconds delay time control format received US$2,325 for his efforts.

“No words can express. It is everybody's dream to win a championship title in any major tournament,” said Gamaro who hails from Calauan, Laguna.

Gamaro also won the Blitz side event for US$100 richer.

"Our hard work finally paid off. Happy for Gerry who won in regular time control format as well the blitz side event," said another US based National Master and Engineer Mario Lawsin Rebano, personal coach and trainer of Gamaro.

Gamaro's next International Chess Tournament is the tough 50th annual World Open Chess Championship Under 2000 category set this July in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. 

ALEX P. VIDAL QUOTES

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”

 --RALPH WALDO EMERSON

“And the first secret of failure is...self-distrust, what else!”

—ALEX P. VIDAL

I meet dozens of potential Frank James

“If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.”

—Bayard Rustin

By Alex P. Vidal

THE distance of my regular subway ride in New York City was reduced by almost 45 minutes effective September 2021 when I stopped working in Brooklyn, for the time being.

I now travel only for about 15 minutes from Queens to Midtown Manhattan vice versa, where the bulk of my livelihood is based.

After my first shift in the Lower Manhattan, I strut straight to my second shift in the Upper East Manhattan, which is three stops away via subway. 

I learned in February this year that I could walk for about 16 blocks (from 51st Avenue to 67th Avenue vice versa) for only 30 minutes if the weather was good, thus I started to avoid the subway and save $2.75 (fare per trip). 

There’s no substitute for a good walking exercise early in the morning. 

Less travel via subway, less danger from being victimized once more by the so-called “Asian Hate Crime” in the subway (any unlucky Asian, for that matter, can still be “hated” even in the streets and other public places).  

For three years before the pandemic, I traveled from the Latino community in Queens via Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn (three stops away from the last station in Coney Island) from Monday to Friday.

Those were the years I experienced so many eerie moments as a subway rider, which I normally saw only in the Al Pacino and Charles Bronson movies when I was a teenager in the Philippines.

From being elbowed and sneered at inside a packed train, to being spat at and sometimes scandalously mistaken for a kook and pickpocket.

-o0o-

In March 2021, the video where I was verbally harassed and nearly mugged by an angry black passenger for being “a Chinese” on my way to Brooklyn’s Coney Island from Queen’s Jackson Heights, went viral.

Every trip I make around the Big Apple via subway, I meet a lot of potential Frank James of all stripes and colors. 

Frank R. James, 62, has been identified by police in Sunset Park, Brooklyn as a person of interest in connection with Tuesday (April 12) morning’s Brooklyn subway attack that wounded 17 passengers (10 individuals were shot).

Although police did not have evidence James was the same person who actually committed the shooting, his name was reportedly connected to a U-Haul sought in connection with the attack. 

A key was left behind at the scene of the shooting and investigators connected that to a U-Haul James had rented with Arizona plates, which they later located in Brooklyn. 

“We’re looking to determine if he has any connection to the train,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.

There were some “concerning” social media posts police believe may be connected to James, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. They mentioned homelessness and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Security for the mayor was increased because of the posts.

James, who rented the U-Haul in Philadelphia, has addresses in Wisconsin and Philadelphia. 

-o0o-

Police recovered a 9mm semi-automatic weapon and a hatchet at the scene of the carnage and found a liquid believed to be gasoline and a bag with commercial-grade fireworks inside.

No arrests have been made as of this writing even as police described the suspected gunman as being around 5 feet, 5 inches tall. 

The suspect weighs around 175-200 pounds and was last seen wearing a gas mask and a construction vest. Police initially said the vest was green, but later officials said it was orange. 

He also had on a gray, hooded sweatshirt. There was no immediate confirmation if among those wounded in the attack were Asians.

Definitely it wasn’t perpetrated specifically to target only the Asians since many of the victims weren’t from Asia.

Both Governor Cathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have condemned the lates attack that placed New York in another headline worldwide for crime and violence.   

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

God is still in charge

“It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.”

—Aeschylus

By Alex P. Vidal

THE wrath of nature has been manifested once again in the savagery first of typhoon “Agaton” and now “Basyang”, which have caused major inconveniences and sadness to many Filipinos still smarting from devastation of previous typhoons and the onslaught of small but restive Taal volcano which spewed steam and ash only on March 22.

What a way to celebrate the Holy Week. As of 10 a.m. on April 12 in the Philippines, Basyang, according to state weather bureau PAGASA, was about 1,435 kilometers east of Southern Luzon and was heading north northwest at 20 kph.

It has peak winds of 120 kph near the center and gusts of up to 150 kph. PAGASA said the typhoon is not expected to have direct effects on the weather and sea conditions of the country.

We are hoping that everything will be quickly back to normal in as far as the weather condition is concerned. 

Filipinos are tired of calamities. Hardly had we recovered from the nightmarish pandemic that almost ravaged our economy, the Filipinos can’t afford to be battered by natural calamity after another calamity.

Not to mention yet the biggest calamity that might hit the Philippines not caused by nature. It’s when the Filipinos make a major mistake of electing the wrong leaders in the coming May 9 election.

We are confident God is still in charge. There are signs we can still survive as a humanity amid all the global catastrophes.

All these typhoons, volcanic eruptions, invasion of Ukraine by Russia that triggered a series of oil price hikes, unemployment, human trafficking, the feared resurgence of COVID variants, the growing emergence of false prophets that lead the blind to spiritual, economic and political abyss, will come to pass.

-o0o-

We are alarmed by reports that some desperate Filipino women victimized by “marriage for green card” scam in the United States are now in danger of altogether losing their chances of obtaining a green card or legal status in the US after they filed a case for Violence Against Women Act (VACA) against their “husbands” in order to get a temporary working permit and the chance to earn a permanent residency—if they can get away with the shenanigan.

Signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355). The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress when prosecutors chose to not prosecute cases. 

The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice.

Interestingly, the Department of Justice is the same agency that recently unearthed the scam involving “wives” allegedly victimized by abusive “husbands.”

These were the cases where the women involved in “marriage for green card” scam filed cases for VAWA as “victims” after the American citizens they paid in arranged marriages didn’t show up for the final interview with the immigration.

This can be case of scam after scam, or applying a scam as a solution to “solve” a  scam.

-o0o-

HAPPINESS DRINK. A study involving more than 1,000 Japanese people age 70 or over found that those who drank at least four cups of green tea a day enjoyed better moods than those drinking a cup or less. The uplifting ingredient is theanine, the researchers believe.

People who eat at least a quarter-cup of rice per day consume 54 fewer daily calories.

We generally pair rice with lower-cal foods like veggies and fish, theorize the Iowa State researchers, and we don't slather it with butter or cheese. 

To gain the weight-losing benefit, eat it solo or as a side with lean stir-fries.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)